Anti-Israel Divestment Measure Goes Down to Historic Defeat at Methodist Conclave

Dateline, Ft. Worth –

The United Methodist Church (the largest of the liberal Protestant denominations in the United States) became the third denomination in a row to reject a policy of divestment from Israel. Although several resolutions calling for limited or more extensive divestment had been submitted, they all failed, even after diehard supporters had tried to introduce them from the full floor after a committee rejection. The Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Director of Interfaith Affairs Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein attended both the General Conference and an earlier pre-convention conclave, speaking with Church officials, and demonstrating to delegates the imbalanced and hostile materials promoted by Church agencies through the influence of a small number of agendized anti-Israel advocates. “As we have seen at other church conventions, the majority of chuchgoers and church leaders are interested in being fair and balanced, and in using their collective voice to promote peace. The last thing they want is to do more harm than good, which is precisely what divestment would have done,” said Rabbi Adlerstein.

Radical Jewish groups attended the General Conference in force, sometimes speaking as Holocaust survivors, urging delegates to punish Israel through divestment. “Many Christian groups have invested serious energy into building a new and better relationship with Jews, but they don’t always live among us. It is easy for others who do not share our values to speak in our name. Our interaction with the delegates and officials at the Ft. Worth convention insured that Methodists would learn the position of the vast majority of the American Jews,” continued Rabbi Adlerstein.

The work with Protestant denominations now turns to the Presbyterians, who will meet in June in San Jose. The Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) was the first denomination to adopt a divestment resolution; it was turned back in 2006 after much campaigning by friends within the church. The Simon Wiesenthal Center accompanied a group of these advocates on a fact-finding tour of Israel before the 2006 convention, and maintains constant contact with them, as they get ready for battles over hostile overtures in 2008.

In another positive development, PCUSA posted a statement on its website acknowledging that language employed in some of its own materials and overtures had at times crossed the line into classic anti-Jewish stereotypes, motifs, and rejected theology. The complex issue of the Middle East had been handled in a way that misrepresented the nature of Zionism. “When our analysis or critique of the Israeli-Palestinian situation employs language or draws on sources that have anti-Jewish overtones, or clearly makes use of classic Christian anti-Jewish ideas, we cloud complicated issues with the rhetoric of ignorance or subliminal attitudes, or the language of hate, and undermine our advocacy for peace and justice. Critical questions such as ending the occupation of Palestinian territory by Israel or the future of Jerusalem are complex and difficult. It does not help to import stereotypes, anti-Jewish motifs or classic ideas of Christian anti-Jewish theology into our discussions.” This mea culpa will hopefully become an important part of the work of rebuilding a relationship with this very important church.

With the failure of divestment to win support with Lutherans, Episcopalians, and now Methodists, we may soon be able to view it as a failed threat – at least as far as American churches go. The larger threat is the overarching strategy of anti-Israel forces, known as BDS: boycott, divestment, and sanctions. Its goal is to rebrand Israel not only as an apartheid state, but as an illegal entity that never should have been created. Unfortunately, the advocates of BDS will not give up, but will turn their attention elsewhere. They recently achieved some disquieting success north of our border, by coaxing the Canadian postal workers union into approving a divestment/apartheid measure. The Simon Wiesenthal Center will continue its work on the many fronts of this war against the Jewish State.